1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to measuring cups. The invention more particularly concerns an improved measuring cup for transferring dry materials across an interface between the cup and another surface.
2. Discussion of the Background
Measuring cups have been in use for well over a century. These measuring cups employ graduated markings or predetermined container volumes to introduce a level of precision and reproducibility to culinary and similar endeavors requiring volumetric measurement. Prior to the development of measuring cups, more inconsistent methods were used for measurement, for example “eye-balling” the materials or comparing their volume to various common articles, e.g., “fingers.”
Since their inception, measuring cups have been designed for use with either wet materials (e.g., liquids) or solids. This bifurcation originally resulted from the tendency of solid masses to “settle” or otherwise present an inconsistent volume, whereas wet materials generally do not experience appreciable levels of volumetric variability for a given mass and, when static, present a substantially uniform open-air surface with which to compare volume indicia on the cup. In addition, wet materials are “poured” and may be subject to applicable surface flow fluid dynamics principles whereas solids are scooped or “dumped”. As a result, measuring cup designs have developed as described herein to ease handling of wet or dry ingredients, respectively, according to their varying physical properties and behavior.
Wet measuring cups have developed to include features for pouring, most commonly spouts. Variations on existing wet cups have included wings, flares, partial tops, and spouts of varying shapes used to combat splashing or spillage resulting from pouring the fluid and/or from shifting ice which aggregates on the surface of fluid in some applications. Wet measuring cups also tend to use volume indicia, such as marks visible on the exterior surface of the cups, which are offset below their rims so as to avoid the need to fill the wet material to the rim for measurement, which would increase the risk of spillage.
Dry cups, in contrast, tend to utilize their rims as volume indicia, such that a preparer—knowing for example that a volume of “1 cup” is measured at the cup's rim—will commonly fill the cup with solids to or above its rim, and will subsequently level the solids with a straight edge to the level of the rim to measure volume. The solids are scooped or dumped into a dry measuring cup for measurement, which usually requires a transferring vessel (such as a spoon) which adds preparation and/or cleanup time, elevation of a mobile cutting surface (such as a cutting board) above the measuring cup and subsequent haphazard dumping of the solids into the measuring cup, or placing the measuring cup beneath a cutting surface's edge and pushing the solids into the cup. These processes often result in solids ending up on the floor or other undesirable surface because they missed the cup, or in added time and effort required to repeatedly push or scoop small amounts of solid into the cup.
Wet and dry cups have thus developed independently from one another, and any one cup is traditionally limited to use with either wet materials or solids. Further, existing measuring cups have generally only been used for measuring and, in some applications, as a container for the materials during heating.
There is thus a need for an improved measuring cup providing for easier transfer of solids to the measuring cup, as well as for improved utility in a wider variety of applications.